The Gunmaker

Last week we were pleasantly surprised to hear our middle son, Keith, who is a gunmaker here in the UK, get mention in a recently published book titled Shooting The British Double Rifle – A Modern Guide for Load Development and Use (Fourth Edition), by Australian gun writer Graeme Wright. Although it’s not the first time Keith’s name has appeared in a book about the gun making craft, it is just reward for a life he has dedicated to the craft ever since completing his schooling in 1993.

Although Keith specialises in, and is passionate about building heavy double rifle calibres, he also builds superb bolt-action magazine rifles, all of which are built under his own name. Somewhat coincidentally, and in a specialised industry that isn’t that big in the UK, there are two Keith Thomas’s, with the other being a bespoke engraver of quality guns. For that reason and to avoid confusion, Keith trades under his full names; Keith Dennison Thomas. Way back in the mists of time our surname was hyphenated but at some later stage use of the name Dennison fell away, although it remained the second name of all boys in the family.

Keith’s arrival at the pinnacle of gun making success has been a long journey since his school days at Queen’s College, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. As a schoolboy he was already showing an inclination towards gun making, and at about age 13 made me a stock for my favourite everyday carry gun in the field, a 7x57mm Mauser Obendorf. It would be his only foray into the woodworking side of gun making. Piquing his interest further was that during his school vacations, he had already been doing most of my reloading for eight different calibres. And periodically working for a gun maker in a neighbouring village.

In January 1994, after having completed his matric, Keith spent a few weeks at our home in Bulawayo before departing for London, where he started his 5-year apprenticeship under Paul Roberts of John Rigby & Son. While still with Rigby’s Keith earned a reputation for being able to regulate double rifle barrels. It’s a highly technical, time-consuming and tricky procedure, which I still don’t fully understand. Nevertheless, Keith’s ability to regulate the barrels to such perfection didn’t go unnoticed. It wasn’t long before Rigby were loaning him out to Purdey’s to regulate double rifles for them.

When Rigby’s was sold, Purdey’s made Keith and offer. By then he had completed his apprenticeship, so accepted, and thereafter, he spent 8-years with Purdey’s while continuing to develop his gun making skill set, and reputation. While still with Purdey’s he was head hunted by Westley Richards in Birmingham, who offered him the role of workshop foreman. Because it was an attractive offer, and with another leading British gunmaker, Keith accepted. Thereafter followed seven happy years before he eventually decided to venture out on his own. Having worked for three of the UK’s leading gun makers was certainly a plus for Keith’s resume, and his pedigree as a gunmaker .

It was after this twenty-one-year phase of his gun making career that he was able to eventually start making bespoke guns under his own name; Keith Dennison Thomas. By the same token, he still does work for all of the leading British gun making firms, and also has an established customer base in the UK, Europe, Scandinavia, and Australia. Not many people are aware that double rifles made by reputable gun makers are often bought as an investment, rather than for use in the field. For a boy who spent much of his youth in African game reserves, and in safari camps, Brenda and I are immensely proud of Keith’s achievements. His website is: www.kdtandson.co.uk